Thursday, April 15, 2010

Changed My Mind

I've since grown fond of the Michelob Ultra brand. And I really enjoy seeing Lance sitting around in all of those commercials and not quite taking a drink of Ultra. The owners of the brand are to be appreciated for pouring a large pile of advertising dollars into cycling media, sponsoring The Epic Cycle on Versus and running ads in several bike magazines and on line. I have to be grateful for any sponsors of cycling and cycling media because they make the professional scene possible and that is something that I really enjoy. I would speculate that the choice of Lance Armstrong and cycling to carry the Ultra message resulted, at least in part, from the influence of Inbev, the Belgian firm that owns Anheuser-Busch. The Belgians are bike-mad, of course. I will readily admit that I do respond positively to well-placed advertising. For example, I've selected Hampton Inns as a direct result of my gratitude for their advertising on the Tour de France telecasts. So, in the same spirit, I'm going to follow Lance Armstrong's example and not quite drink Michelob Ultra. Thank you, InBev.

Something like this may have a few more calories than the aforementioned beverage, but that's one of the reasons they call it "beer".